Exhaust-treating apparatus for steam-power plants



EXHAUST .STEAM FROM Nov. 2o, 192s. l 1,692,019

A. J. ARMSON EXHAUST TREATING APPARATUS FOR STEAM POWER PLANTS Nov. 20, 1928. 1,692,019

A. J. ARMsoN EXHAUST TEEATING APPARATUS PoR STEAM PowER PLANTS Filed March 14, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 WMM/M4425] ////////AV ////f/ A TJ [8 ET Wm mvlum Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. ARMSON, OF PORT HURON, IvTCI-GAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE ARMSON EX- HAUST HEATNG COIVIPl-NY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

EXHAUST-TREATING APPARATUS FOR STEAM-POXVER PLANTS.

Application led March 14, 1925. Serial No. 15,672.

This invention relates to an exhaust treating apparatus for steam power plants such as are employed on steamboats, especially those plying fresh water lakes, as the Great Lakes, plants of this kind having a main engine for propelling the boat and a large number of auxiliary engines.

More particularly the present invention is an improvement on the exhaust treating apparatus constituting the subject matter of my prior application, Serial No. 613,932, filed January 20, 1923.

As stated in my application above referred to, in steam plants on boats, such as those plying the Great Lakes, it has been customary to lead the exhaust steam from the main engine direct to a et condenser and to pump the boiler feed Water from a well into which the condenser water is pumped, and to heat the feed Water by the exhaust steam from the auxiliary engines, this exhaust steam after being passed through the heater being discharged to atmosphere. It might be mentioned that on boats of this kind many auxiliary engines are employed, such as thoseused for pumping water ballast, electric lighting, mooring, etc.

The apparatus constituting the subject matter of my prior application was designed to effect certain economies in the exhaust treating method commonly employd by utilizing more effectively than before, the heat in the exhaust steam from both the main and auxiliary engines, and by reducing the amount of waste heat and also increasing the eiiiciency of the condenser part of the plant.

This was accomplished in accordance with my prior invention by introducing between the condenser and the exhaust pipes of both the main and auxiliary engines, a chamber,

the steam from the main and auxiliary engines being passed through thischamber and then to the condenser, and the feed water being pumped from the condenser through pipes extending substantially the length of the chamber, then past a settling chamber, and then to the boilers.

The object of the present invention is to effect still greater economies, and particularly to increase still further the temperature of the feed water by a novel method of exhaust treatment with the exhaust steam of both the main and auxiliary engines.

Briefly stated, by the present method. the

exhaust from the main and auxiliary engines instead of being passed through one main feed water heating chamber is passed through two separate heating chambers, or through different compartments of the same chamber, and then the exhaust steam from both chambers, or from both compartments is condensed, preferably, though not necessarily, in a single condenser, but arrangement is made so that the pressure reducing, and therefore, thetemperature reducing action of the condenser does not aect the steam in the chamber receiving the exhaust from the auxiliary engines. In consequence, by passing the feed water first through the chamber which receives the exhaust from the main engines, and then through the chamber receiving the exhaust from the auxiliary engines, which exhaust is at a higher pressure, and therefore at a higher temperature than the exhaust in the first chamber, the temperature to which the feed water is raised by the exhaust'treatment is materially increased. ,e

The invention maybe further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claim.l

Referring now to the drawings wherein I have shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 represents diagrammatically or conventionally, a portion of a steam plant involving my invention, but omitting those parts such as the main and auxiliary engines and boilers, which are not essential to an understanding' of the invention; Fig. 2 is a. sectional view substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;.Fig. 3 is a section substanf tially along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4' is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the packing for the water tubes in the headers or transverse partitions. l

In the drawings, 10 represents a pipe which conveys the exhaust steam fromy the main engine (not shown), this pipe being connected to a valve casing 11, which is in the nature of a shut-off valve. This casing has an outlet 12, leading downto horizontally disposed drum 13 wherein the feed water is heated and the temperature of the exhaust steam is reduced, as will be explained presently. This drum is provided between its ends with a transverse partition 14 dividing it into two separate compartments or chambers A and B. The chamber' A is preferably longer than the chamber B, and it is to this chamber that the exhaust from the main engine is introduced.

The exhaust from all the auxiliary engines (not shown) of the plant is led to chamber B, the exhaust being introduced at a suitable inlet indicated at Near the outer end ot chamber A there is a tube sheet 16, andvbetween the header and the adjacentend of 'the chamber, ,feed water is introduced by a pipe 1T, which will be referred to presently. Near the outer end of 'chamber B there is a tube sheet 18, and beyond' the header abaiile 19, under vthe lower edge of which the heated feed water passes over 'a connection 2O Vwith a settling chamber 21, Also located beyond the baille 19 between the latter and the adj acent end or" drum 13 is an outlet 22 for the feed water, this out-"let being :designed to be connected .by suitable piping` 'to the boilers (not shown). l

lilxtending horizontally through the chamber A is a partition 23, near one end of which is an opening 23a, so that the exhaust steam from the main engine is required to pass for n'actically the full length oi? the chamber A, iii-sitabove and then back along the lower side oi this partition. In chamber B there is a similar horizontal partition 24; which extends from 4the tube sheet 18 substantially to the partition 14, so that the exhaust steam from the auxiliary engines will passV torsubstanti ally the full length oit the compartment B,

' first above the horizontal partition 21.1-, then down 'through a space between the end oi' the partition 24 and the vertical or transverse partition 14, and back along beneath 'the partition 9.4. t

Extending horizontally through drum 13, between the headers 16 and 18, and communicating with the spaces bet-ween the tube sheet and the adjacentends of the drum are a( series lot horizontal reed water tubes 25, which are located both aboveiand below the horizontal partitions 23 and 24. As will be obvious, the exhaust steamr irom the main engine in passing along chamber A,tirst in one direction above partition 2S, and then in the opposite direction beneath partition 23, and the exhaust steam from the `auxiliary engines inpassing similarly through chamber B surrounds the .teed water tubes 25 and heats the water passing through the tubes, the temperature 'being elevated a certain amount in chamber A, and being raised still higher in chamber B, afs lwill be explained presently. rlhe exhaust steam after passing throu'ghboth chambers A and B is condensed, and though separate condensers might be employed, I prefer to u'seva single condenser for the steam conducted from both chambers A and B.N The condenser referred to, is shown at 26, this being a jet condenser which may be of usual construction, the water for condensinf` the steam beine' introduced through n u o n vtherefore to the condenser, but between the outletJ 50 and the iitting there introduced a so-called back pressure valve 31, the same being arranged 1n piping 32 connectedv at one end 'to the outlet 370, and at its other end to the end of the T-iitting 29. The eiiect of this hack pressure valve is'to maintain in chamber B the saine pressure that wouldexist it the condensing feature were not introduced to the exhaust from the auxiliaryengiries. :In other words, the same `pressure exists in this chamber B as if the steam from outlet'() were conducted to atmosphere. The pressure in this chamber is therefore above atmospheric, and in. practice the gauge pressure is about ten pounds, i'. e. ten pounds above atmospheric. This means that the temperature ot the steam in the compartment is considerably above 2120', and in practice is about 250O F. @n the other hand, since chamber A is direct connected to the condenser, the pressure' is below atmospheric, as previously stated, and therefore the 'temperature is below 212o ii`.,-in practice', in the vicinity of 155o F.

It is to be noted that the back pressure valve 81 is paralleled by piping 33, having a shut-oli valvet, which is ordinarily closed, particularly when the main engine is in operation, but in the event the steamboat is in port, and the main Kengine is idle, and in the event the auxiliary Iengines are being used ex? tensively, valve 3a may be, and gene'rally will be opened so as to in eiiectconve'rt the auxiliary engines tocoi'idensing engines so as to re'n'iove the back pressure and enable 'them to work at maxi'muni etliciency. This, ofcourse, reduces the pressure and lt'er'nperature 'of the exhaust steam in chamber B, and reduces the temperature to which the ieed water is raised. but it will be understood that at such time the main engine is not in operatiomandhigl'i temperature feed water is not so essential.

The condenser water is preferably conduct# ed :troni the "condenser 'and supplied to 'the feed water tubes 2.5, as in my prior applica'- tion,-that is 'to say, it is conducted by'a pipe 35 to a so-called air pump 36, generally' operated trom the cross-head of the main engine, and is pumped to a chamber 37, from which the water is pumped 'by a `'feed water pum-p 38 to the pipe 17, the intake side'oi the pump being connected by pipe 89 to the 'chamber 37;

A separate pump 40 is provided for operation when the main engine is :not working, and the air pump Sonet operated, this pump having its 'intake connected tothe 'condenser by a pipe 41, and its outlet connected by a pipe 42 to the discharge pipe 43 which normally discharges the excess water from the condenser overboard, this pipe being connected to chamber 37 as indicated.

The feed water tubes 25 are preferably fitted without packing in the tub-e sheet 16,

. 4. This packing takes care of the difference of pressures in the two chambers on opposite sides of the partition 14, i. e. between the higher or super-atmospheric pressure in chamber B, and the pressure in chamber A below at-mospheric, and also it takes care of the very considerable difference in pressure existing on opposite sides of the header 18, due to the high pressure at which the feed water is supplied to the boilers.

It should be noted also, that by mounting the packing of the tubes as indicated in Fig. 4, the tubes may expand and contract freely, this being of importance in view of the rather great length of the tubes.

As stated above, under normal conditions the hand-operated by-pass valve 84 is closed, and the back pressure valve 31 effective so as to get the high temperature heating effect in chamber B, but when the boat is in port and the main engine idle, and when it is desired that the auxiliary engines be worked at highest eiiiciency, the auxiliary engines are operated as condensingengines by opening the valve 34. As stated above, this reduces the teinpeiat-ure of the feed water somewhat, but this is compensated for by the fact that the auxiliary engines are thus operated at higher eiiciency, and whereas under usual practice the steam from the auxiliaries is discharged direct to atmosphere and the heat therein is lost, with this v.system all the exhaust is brought back to a central point, and the heat is largely saved.

It will be seen therefore, that with the present improvements, with the plant operating normally, the temperature of the feed water is elevated to a higher' degree than with the apparatus shown in my prior application.

A further advantage lies in the fact that inasmuch as the feed water is elevated to a higher temperature before leaving` the chamber 13, cleaner water is delivered to the boilers,--that is to say, more sediment will be deposited in the settling chamber than with the apparatus which delivers the feed water at a lower temperature. This condition reduces the abrasive quality of the steam, and therefore requires less oil than under conditions wherein dirtier water and more sediment were conducted to the boilers.

Additionally it might be stated that inasmuch as amaximumamount of the heat in the exhaust steam is extracted or absorbed by the feed water, particularly as the heating by the steam in chamber B is under pressure and temperatuie conditions comp-arable with non-condensing engines, although the pressure, and therefore the temperature is immediately reduced after passing the back pressure valve, there is nevertheless a reduction in the amount of water required to be supplied lto the condenser, and therefore there is a smaller amount of water which is dumped overboard after being pumped from the condenser, and therefore a less'wastc of heat at this point.v i

It will be seen, therefore, that with the improvements herein described, economies are effected to an important degree, and therefore the object of the invention stated at the beginning of the specification is attained very effectively.V

While I have shown the preferred construction, I do not desire to be confined to the exact details shown, but. aim in my claims to covei all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In asteainpowerplant of the type having a main engine and a plurality of auxiliary en-V gines adapted to be supplied with steam from boilers, pipes for delivering exhaust steam from said engines, condensing means, heating chambers between said pipes and the condensing means, one of said chambers rcceiving exhaust steam from the main engine and the other of said chambers receiving exhaust steam from the auxiliary engines, means between the condensing means and the chamber receiving steam from the auxiliary engines n for maintaining in the second chamber relatively high temperature and pressure conditions, 'and feed water pipes extended through said chambei's and adapted to be connected to the boilers.

2. In a steam power plant of the type having boilers, a main engine and a plurality of auxiliary engines, pipes for delivering exhaust steam from the main and auxiliary engines, chambers to which said pipes are connected, condensing means, means connecting each of said chambers to the condensing means, a back pressure valvein theconnection between said condensing means and the chamber receiving the exhaust from the auxiliary engines, and means 'for passing feed water successively through said chambers.

3. In a steam power plant of the type having one or more boilers, a main engine and 'a plurality of auxiliary engines, condensing ed thereto, .a back pressure ,Valve in the eonnection between the lcondensing means and the compartment receiving steam from the auxiliary engines, la ley-pass for rendering said back pressure valye ineleetive, and means for passing eed water through both compartments successively. y

4. In a steam power plant of the type having boilers and a plurality of engines receiving steam therefrom, jet condensing means, two feed Water heating oompartments, means for supplying -to one eonfipartment 10W pres-l sure exhaust steam from one engine, means for supplying to the other compartment relatively high pressure eXhaust'steam from another engine, means connecting the voutlets of ALBERT J. ARMsoN. 

